22. janúar 2007

It is unscientific to believe in humans...

Found a wonderful dialog that Dr. Picard presented at MIT in 1997. If you have 10 minutes to spare, check it out :)

Machines That Can Deny Their Maker

Rosalind W. Picard

The following dialogue was presented as part of the lecture "Toward Machines That Can Deny Their Maker," given at the MIT Course "God and Computers" by Rosalind W. Picard during the fall semester 1997.
 
The dialogue was inspired, in part, by the 1921 play of Karel Capek, entitled "R.U.R.," which stands for Rossum's Universal Robots. This play is where the word robot originated, from the Czech "robotit," which means "to drudge." In R.U.R., humans have figured out the secret to making robots that are emotional and alive. However, the robots can only live for 20 years. Afterward, they expire (die.)
 
The robots in this dialogue share the following features with those in R.U.R.: They are affective computers, with an extensive set of emotional abilities. They do not know how to make themselves, nor do they know how to prolong their existence beyond 20 years. They do not have the "secret recipe" that is what gave them life. But, they have the desire to find it.

Engin ummæli: